If October and November were the only months that counted, Franz Wagner wouldn’t have anything to prove. His scorching start last season, much of which came during Paolo Banchero’s time on the shelf, had Wagner firmly in the discussion for All-NBA first team. He averaged 23.6 points, 5.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds on a 47.4/35.4/85.3 shooting split through Nov. 29.
An oblique injury knocked Wagner out for all of December and most of January, and he returned a diminished player—particularly in terms of scoring efficiency.
Wagner finished the season shooting 29.5 percent from long distance on a career-high 5.9 attempts per game. It was his second straight season hitting fewer than 30.0 percent of his treys.
The Magic are looking to take a leap with the acquisition of Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones to help the offense, but it’s going to be difficult for them to truly frighten top-end opponents if they have a high-volume offensive weapon missing seven out of every 10 triples he tries.
Wagner is a terrific all-around player, but he has a glaring flaw. Considering Orlando’s ambitions and the fact that it maxed him out last summer, Wagner needs to step it up. Otherwise, the Magic might need to look for a more efficient second option behind Banchero.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale.